JARQ 27, 8-12 (1993) Germplam Conervation of Japanee Native Livetock Breed (Hore, Cattle and Goat) Taro OBATA * and Hiato TAKEDA Department of Genetic Reource I, National Intitute of Agrobiological Reource (Tukub a, Ibaraki, 305 Japan) Abtract Thi paper decribe the preent ituation and problem in the conervation of native livetock breed in Japan. The breed conidered include Japanee native hore, Japanee native cattle and Japanee native goat. To conerve the genetic reource of thee breed, it i important to keep them ( 1) in the form oflive animal and (2) in the form of perm, oocyte, embryo, cell, chromoome and gene that can be tored by applying cryogenic technique. For the Japanee native livetock that are alo important member ofliving 'mueum', it may be further deirable to conerve them a live animal. However, it i difficult to conerve all thee breed in a living form due to their low economic value in the market. Therefore, it i neceary to keep thee animal for other purpoe uch a riding hore, tourit attraction in national park and zoo, educational tool in agricultural chool and experimental animal. Dicipline: Animal indutry Additional key word: animal genetic reource, gene bank Introduction In Japan, there are a few indigenou or 'native' livetock. The term native ued here doe not imply that the tock necearily originated in Japan, ince the majority of thee animal if not all, ha at one time or another been imported into Japan. The originally imported tock wa introduced prior to the Edo era (before 1603), i.e. before the country became virtually ealed off from the outide wo rld and no livetock could be introduced... Thi tock i here decribed a native livetock, becaue thee animal have been preent in Japan for a long time and they do not occur elewhere in the world. Current Japanee livetock breed are derived from three group which can be differentiated by their origin. Firt, there are variou native live- tock breed which were either preent in, or introduced to Japan prior to the Edo era, ome of which have urvived to the preent. Secondly, there are dairy cattle, pig and heep which were imported from other countrie after the eiji retoration (1868). Thirdly, there are b"!ef cattle which were derived from crobreeding between the native and the cattle breed imported after the eiji retoration. Japanee native livetock breed, thoe in the firt category, conit or (a) native hore (Hokkaido pony, Kio pony, Taihu pony, iaki pony, Tokara pony, iyako pony, Yonaguni pony and Noma pony), (b) native cattle (ihima and Kuchinohima cattle) and (cl native goat (Shiba and Tokara goat) (Table 1). Fig. 1 illutrate the geographic ditribution or thee breed. Thi paper decribe the preent ituation and Preent addre: Department of Animal Breeding and Genetic, National Intitute of Animal Indutry (Tukuba, lbaraki, 305 Japan) Some native livetock may have been preent in Japan prior to the Edo era, but there i no evidence to ubtantiate uch a an aumption.
9 Table I. ajor Japanee native livetock breed" Specie llore Callie Goal Na me of hr eccl Hokkaido pony l<io pony Noma pony Taihu pony iaki pony' Tokara pon)' iyako pony Yonaguni pony ihima calllc' l<uchinohima wild callle Shiba goal Tokara,::oat 'Nalional treaure. Location for rearing Hokkaido Nagano Ehimc Nagaaki i) azaki Kagohima Okinawa Okinawa Yamaguchi Kagohima Nagaaki Kagohima problem in the conervation of native livetock breed in Japan. Decription and characteritic of native livetock brccd 21 (L) Hokkaido Pony : Hokkaido ponie are native to the northernmot iland of Japan, Hokkaido. They are mainly reared along the Pacific coat of llolckaido. Their body ize i medium and their wither height i 130-135 cm. Becaue of their trong leg and tamina, they were ued extenively for both farm and road work. In order to keep their purity thee breed were regitered by the Aociation of Native Pony ince 1979. They are commonly called 'Doanko'. They are the only native hore. whoe number ha not decreaed. (2) I<io pony : l<io ponie are rnediurn,ized native hore reared in the bain of the I<io river in Nagano Prefecture. Since the eiji era, thi breed ha been markedly affected by national improvement program and the number of pure I<io ponie ha decreaed appreciably. /\ fter [9,15, the breeding; of Kio ponie wa carried out uing the few urviving pure breed ponie and pure Kio ponie are being conerved by the Kio Pony Conervation, Group. In 1976, Lhe regitration of thi breed wa tarted. (3) Noma pony : Thi breed i ditributed in Ehime Pref. fl i poible that the animal were reared on the iland of the lnland Sea for the purpoe of tranportation. Their body ize i the )~?pow- p? 91 ";)'" Q"" Ji 4) T3.ihu pony / ty J 11) Shiba goat ~~ : S,J!f'11 2)Kiopony.;:t "->. 3) Noma pony 6) Tokaro pony~,; S) ioki pony 12) Tok3mgoa1-""-._.,,,.-1'..,. JO) Kuclunohima callle V \ '--.. ;) iyoko pony 8) Yonaguni pony Fig. I. Geographic ditribution of Japanee native breed mallet of all the native hore. They are maintained in the farm park managed by lmabari city, and are ued for hobby riding by children. (4) Taihu pony : Taihu ponie are kept on Tuhima Iland in Nagaaki Pref. They are mall, er than normal hore but they have trong leg and feet. Taihu ponie were very ueful in Tuhima for tranportation to iolated village connected only by narrow path over teep lope, but they are now eldom ued for uch purpoe. The Taihu Pony Conervation Group in Tuhima plan to ue thee ponie not only for riding but alo a a tourit attraction. (5) iaki pony : tvliaki ponie are grazing al the national park in Cape Toi in iyazaki Pref. They are medium-ized native hore and their wither height i 130-135 cm. They are alo known a 'wild hore' and they are popular with the tourit who viit the park. In 1953, thi breed wa deignated a a national treaure. (6) Tokara pony : Thi breed i found on Tokara Iland in Kagohima Pref. The body ize of the pure breed kept on the iland i medium and the wither height i about I 15 cm. They were widely ued for cultivation a draft and a a power ource for cruhing ugar cane. Nowaday, they are alo raied on the mainland of Kagohima Pref. for conervation. (7) llliyako pony : iyako ponie are reared on iyako fland in Okinawa Pref. The wither height
10 i about 120 cm. T he mtmber of thi breed i the mallet among the native hore. They are ued a tourit attraction and educational tool in agricultural chool. (8) Yonag uni pony: T hi i a minor breed, imilar to the iyako pony. The homeland i Yonaguni Iland in Okinawa Pref. T he wither height i 110-120 cm. The grazing ytem i unique; thee ponie are grazing with cattle in the ame pature. (9) ihima cattle : ihima cattle are reared on ihima Iland located northwet of Hagi city in Yamaguchi Pref. Since they were not influenced by the breed imported during the eiji era, they are conidered to have preerved the characteritic of Japanee native cattle. Thi breed produce high quality meat, with fine marbling, but their growth rate i lower than that of imported breed. Though they have a good temper for farm work, they are not ued for that purpoe a ny more. (10) Kuchinohima cattle : Kuchinohima cattle are ditdbuted on Kuchi nohima Iland in Kago. hima Pref. Thi formerly dometicated breed ecaped from cattle fa rm around 1918 and i cur renlly wild. The wither heighl i about 120 cm. (11) Shiba goat : Shiba goat are mall i.zed native white goat ditributed on Goto Iland in Nagaaki Pref. The wither height i about 50 cm. They have horn but no wattle. They can produce kid throughout the year and the average kid production i about 1.8 per female goat per year. (l2) Tokara goat : They are ditri buted on Tokara Iland in Kagohi ma Pref. T hi breed i conidered to have been introduced from Ok inawa Pref. Due to the crobreeding between Tokara goat and Saanen goat, the number of pure Tokara goat i decreaing. They are not prone to hindleg paralyi. No interex i noted in thi breed. What i the origin of the Japanee native breed? Although tudie on the origin of lhe Japanee native breed have been initiated, no conenu ha yet been reached concerning the origin of thee breed. In the cae of hore, one hypou1ei, baed on body meaurement data, wa propoed in 1958. It wa uggeted that Japanee and Aian hore could be claified into two group ; mall-ized hore (ll0-120 cm, wither height) and meclium ized J ARQ 27(1) 1993 hore (130-140 cm). Small,ized ho re were mainly ditributed in the outhern iland of Japan (outh of the Tokara Iland), outhern China and the whole of Southeat Aia and medium ized hore throughout the ret of Japan, ongolia and Northern China. Baed on thi information and archaeological evidence of early hore, it wa potulated that the mall ized hore were brought into J apan firt (ometime between 1,000-200 BC) from the $Outh and the medium.ized hore were inttoduced later (between 200 BC-200 AD) from the Korean peninul,1, and thal thee two group of hore became interbred in Japanu. However, thi hypothei wa not upported by the evidence produced by comparative electrophor etic creening of everal native Aian hore. No correlation wa found between the body ize and the gene contitution of the blood protein (Fig. 2)'>. Therefore, it i uggeted that the mall-ized hore remaining in the mall outhern iland originated from hore from mainland Japan whoe body ize decreaed due to natural and/ or artificial election on thee iolated iland. Furthermore, it wa propoed that there wa only one route of introduction of hore into Japan, via the Korean peninula, whjch wa the main route of cultural flow into Japan. To clarify thi iue of origin, genetic reearch hould be further promoted. If a method for the etimation of the correct age could be developed and if DNA ample from the excavated bone of thoe earlier hore could be analyzed, new informa tion on the origin of thee Japanee native breed could be obtained. Current activitie for the conervation of native livetock breed At preent, the rearing of many native Japanee breed i largely undertaken a a hobby by a few individual who keep a mall number of animal for their own interet. Additionally ome national park keep and rear a few breed. The type of maintenance and rearing varie with the breed. F'or hore breed, breed aociation and conervation group are active in conerving them with ubidie from national and local government. In the cae of cattle, for one of the native breed (ihima cattle) there i an aociation to conerve
11 Kio iyako (hybrid) Thailand Philippine Aguni Hokkaido iyako (native) Yonaguni iaki Tuhima Shetland Welh Cheju Bre1on l'ercheron Batak Sabah - Sarawak Lombok Noa Doi Padang Arab Anglo - Arab Thoroughbred Hackney Tokarn (lriki) Tokara (Kaimon) S- S- S- ----~ S- 0 0.0 I 0.02 O.Q3 0.04 0.05 0.06 Nci' genetic ditance Fig. 2. Dcndrogram or the genelic ditance among 26 hore breed of Aia and Europe" S : Small,ize, : edium.ize. them which operate on the iland but for the other breed (Kuchinohima cattle) no uch aociation ha yet been etablihed. In the cae of goal breed, everal laboratorie in agricultural reearch in titutc keep and rear them to upply experimental animal. In the area of their original ditribution, however, the number of goat ha markedly de creaed. It i difficult to conerve a ll of thee animal breed in a living form, clue to their low economic value in the market and the limited range of ue. Other problem in thi repect are a follow: (l) Since a ll of the native livetock are preently being reared by elderly people, the rearing tech nique may be lot when the people die. (2) ot of the native livetock are preently reared by a few farmer who keep a mall number of animal. One problem in lhe maintenance of mall group of live animal i the prevention of inbreeding and genetic drift which may induce change in gene frequency. (3) ot of the native li vetock are kept by private individual a a hobby. and not for the conervation of genetic reource. Individual farm er who keep thee breed require ubidie to ena hie them to continue thee activitie. Obviouly, wider uch circumtance the urvival of thee breed i at rik. Suggetion for future activitie To conerve the genetic reource of native li ve tock, it i neceary to keep them (1) in the form of live animal and/ or (2) in the form of perm, oocyte, embryo, cell, chromoome and gene that can be tored by applying cryogenic technique. Each method ha ome advantage and diadvantage. Cryogenic ample which are collected and fro7,en can be permanently preerved and, except for ac cident within the torage ytem, they remain available under the ame condition a thoe at the time of ampling, any time in the future. Although it i expenive to initiate frozen collection, once they have become etablihed, the cot aociated with equipment maintenance, uch a liquid nitrogen upply, i low. In the AFF' (initry of Agriculture. Foretry and Fiherie) gene bank project, we are attempting to collect the perm of a ll thee native animal breed and tore it by applying
12 cq ogenic method'' Live animal conervation ha a number of advantage over fror.en cryo-preervation for the following reaon: (I) cultural-hitorica l reaon:, (2) the opportunity to invetigate topical or new trait in the population all)' time. and (3) maintaining people' awarene of the exitence of the breed and interet i 1 the fror.en material. For the Japanee native livetock. it may be further deir able to conerve them a live animal. Epecially cryogenic torage doe not fulfi II any aethetic.and cultural need un like live animal conervation, a uch animal with unique feature can be een by people. Preently many children from urban area are not familiar with primary food production :and have little or no opportunity to interact with animah;. The conervation of native livetock a live animal rnay (ulfill uch need. Dicuion Since the late 1940, coniderable change have take,1 place in the ratu of the different breed of livetock in Japan. Very few breed of livetock, with a high economic value, have dominated the tock in Japan, reulting in either the exlinclion of ome breed or in relegaling them to the level of trace populati on coniting of many native livetock breed reared in local area. In olden lime lhere may have been many more native livetock breed than al preent. and ome may have become extinct clue to Lheir lack of economic value. Never Lhele. the current breed are derived from that greater tock. llowever. everal genetic characteritic of ome of thee breed may have been tranmitted to the native livetock breed that currentl) 1 exit in Japan. While ome or thee breed are not preently economically viable their valuable genetic reource hould be conerved. For example. the ] A RQ 27(1) 1993 Duroc boar. which wa not lited in Lhe tatitic of livetock population prior lo 1972 now account for about 50 % of the pig population in thee tatitic, uggeting that thi breed diplay attribute which were not deemed or found to be economicall y valtt able at that lime but were ubequently reaeed. Genetic variation. both between and within breed. i a valuable reource for animal breeder. In future, clue to the change in the condition of livetock production and animal product. the genetic variation preent in thee breed may become either highly valuable or, indeed. critically important. A many native livetock have played an important role in the hitory and development of their area of origin. thee breed hould be conerved A regard the Japanc.e native livetock. it i impor tanl to train people who a re intereted in native livetock. To reduce inbreeding in a mall popula tion it may be deirable that individual fa rmer become organized in aociation to control the breeding of the animal. Such aociation wh ich maintain the ame pure breed need to appeal Lo public opinion to obtain appropriate ubidie for production along wi th program of conervation. Re ference I) I layah idi,. S. (1958) : Sytemal ic tudie on the Japanee native hore. )/>n.). Zootaclt. Sci.. 28, 329-334. 2) Japanee eat Conference (1987) : Dometicated animal of the world. JC. Tokyo, IJ7-167 (ln Japanee]. 3) Noiawa, I<. (198 1 ): l31ood protein variation of Aian dometic hore. Primate Reearch Intitute. l<yoto Univ., 22- :lli [In Ja1lanee]. 4) Obata, T. ct al. (1992) : Preervation of animal genetic reource in Japan. JAHQ, 26, 1-6. (Received for publication. Jan. 21. 1!)93)